


the Boyfriend Plot

by Browneyesparker



Series: Bughead Stories [4]
Category: Riverdale (TV 2017)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, F/M, Fake Dating, Friendship, Pining, Romance, friends to something more
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-03-14
Updated: 2017-05-21
Packaged: 2018-10-04 18:14:37
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 11
Words: 14,975
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10285556
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Browneyesparker/pseuds/Browneyesparker
Summary: Jughead and Betty pretend to be boyfriend and girlfriend to get Archie's attention. But the best laid plans always have a way of going awry. Faking dating AU. Sort of based on 10 Things I Hate About You. Bughead. RonnieArchie.





	1. Chapter 1

**.**

**Chapter 1**

Betty Cooper sighed and threw her messenger bag on the worn plaid couch before sitting down in front of her desktop computer.

“What’s wrong Bets?” Jughead Jones asked, not looking up from the article he was editing for one of the freshman who had joined the Blue & Gold staff after their principal had told them for it to be school funded, they needed to let other students join.

“Archie’s dating Valerie now, did you know that?”

“He might have mentioned he was going to ask her out. Why? Still waiting for the day when Archie wakes up and realizes you’re the one he wants?”

“Are you taking over my job as editor-in-chief?”

“Only because we have a deadline to meet and you weren’t here.”

Betty nodded and pulled up the news story she had been working on all week. “Hey Juggie?”

“Yeah?”

“Do you think Archie and I are endgame?”

“English please,” Jughead answered.

“Do you think we’re going to end up together, like happily ever after stuff?”

“Well, shucks Betty. I don’t know. We’re not even out of high school yet. And I don’t think Archie is really the settling down type.” Jughead’s expression softened when he saw the look on her face. “But if he was going to have happily ever after, the little yellow house and white picket fence then it would probably be with _you_.”

Betty sighed. “Thank you but you’re just being nice.”

Jughead shook his head. “No. No, any guy would be lucky to have you. You’re perfect.”

“That’s what Archie said.”

“He’s not all bad,” Jughead reflected. “He’s just a teenage boy and he only has one thing on his mind and you’re not _that_ kind of girl.”

“You’re a teenage boy and you don’t have one thing on _your_ mind,” Betty pointed out.

“I’ve got too much going on to be like that,” Jughead answered. “Besides, you’ve seen my family life. Do you think I could drag a girlfriend into all that?”

“I don’t know. I’m here, aren’t I?”

“We’ve already established you’re not like the other girls,” Jughead answered, leaning back in his chair and clicking his red pen with his thumb. He smiled at her. “You know, Archie’s the kind of boy who wants something he can’t have.”

“What do you mean?”

“If you were involved, he might be interested.”

Betty rolled her eyes. “Yeah, there’s a long line of guys who are so interested in taking me out.”

“I could do it,” Jughead said tentatively.

Betty frowned at him. “What’s in it for you?”

“My motives are pure, I promise!” Jughead swore.

“You’re not going to write a scathing exposé about girls being the absolute worst just so you can get into the college of your choice?” Betty asked. “You don’t have a bet with Reggie and the guys to see if you can get me to date you?”

“This isn’t a chick flick, Betts. They’re not paying me to date you so they can go out with Polly or humiliate you or anything. And you are hardly the stereotypical “ugly duckling” type they portray in movies.”

“The ones that is so obviously _not_ ugly?” Betty added.

“Yeah. There’s nothing going on like _that_ ,” Jughead assured her. “They pretty much all think I’m a women-hater, anyways.”

“Well, let’s be honest, you haven’t exactly been taking girls to Pop’s Diner and a drive-in movie every Friday night.”

“That, my friend, is _our_ ritual! I’ll only be sharing French fries with you, thank you very much.”

Betty smiled. “You’re the best, Juggie.”

“So do you wanna?” Jughead asked, uncomfortable with her praise.

“Do the fake dating thing?” Betty clarified.

“Why not? We’re almost always together these days, people might think it progressed naturally,” Jughead said.

“I don’t know. . . if it’s not going to be mutually beneficial, I don’t see how it’s going to work out.”

“Maybe if we date, people will stop assuming things about my sexuality.”

“I thought you didn’t care what people thought about you,” Betty said.

“Oh, I don’t! I’m just coming up with justifiable reasons for you to let me help you. Pretend it’s working,” Jughead answered.

“Okay,” Betty replied. “ _BUT_ we need to come up with terms and agreements first. We want to be believable.”

“Our long-standing Friday night date continues as usual,” Jughead said automatically. “We’ll accompany each other to school functions.”

“Like prom?” Betty asked hopefully.

“I would be more than happy to take you to prom with me,” Jughead answered. “I know how disappointed you were last year when nobody asked you to go with them.”

Betty smiled. “Thank you!”

“No problem. So, what else do you expect from this deal? Holding hands? Long kisses against your locker in the hallway?”

“Holding hands would be nice,” she agreed. “But we don’t really have to make out in the hall. I mean, we can have some propriety. We don’t even have to kiss at all, really.”

“Ah, yes. We’re still saving ourselves for Archibald, aren’t we?”

“And how many girls have you kissed?”

“Less than the average male high school student,” Jughead replied. “When should we start our epic ruse?”

“How about right away?” Betty answered. “We’ve got nothing to lose.”

“Except everyone’s gone for the day,” Jughead reminded her. “Except for Patrick. He was waiting for me to finish editing his piece about the mystery meat in the cafeteria.”

Betty shook her head. “All the freshman do pieces about mystery meat. _WAIT!_ Patrick’s still here!? Do you think he heard?”

They both looked over at the curly-haired teenagers, he was leaning back in a chair, tapping his beat-up Vans against the desk, _Five Finger Death Punch_ was pulsing through his headphones, his eyes were closed while he head banged along to the music.

“I don’t think he can hear anything through _that_ ,” Jughead reassured her, tossing a wadded up piece of paper at Patrick’s head.

“Huh? Is it time to go yet?” Did you finish looking over my article?” Patrick asked, yanking out his skull earbuds.

“See?” Jughead said, winking at Betty.

“See?” Patrick repeated. “See _what_!? Is it bad!?”

“Calm down, you’re fine!” Jughead answered. “It’s not a hard-hitting news story but it’ll do for your first piece. Why don’t you leave? Don’t you need to be home for dinner?”

“Eh, it’s fine! I told my mom that I had to stay after school for extra-curricular. Why?”

Jughead cleared his throat. “Well, it’s just that. . . Betty and I haven’t been alone all day and I really wanted to be with her for a little bit.”

Patrick’s eyes got as big as saucers as he flew out of his chair and grabbed his backpack. “You and Betty!? Cool! I’ll go now! ‘Bye! See you tomorrow!”

“There’s no backing out now. It’ll be all around school by tomorrow,” Jughead said as the Blue & Gold doors slammed shut. “Teenage boys talk just as much as teenage girls these days.”

Betty smiled. “Hey, I’m game if you’re game!”

**TBC. . .**

**.**


	2. Chapter 2

**.**

**Chapter 2**

“Good going, Jughead!” Reggie Mantle crowed the next day at school.

Archie Andrews crinkled his forehead. “Good going?” he repeated, looking at his best friend. “What did you do?”

Reggie looked at the redhead in disbelief. “How did you not hear about it!? It’s all over the school. That freshman Patrick Ledger told his buddy Michael Bernard, who has one of the most popular gossip Twitter accounts even though he’s only in 9th grade.”

“I was with Val all night, we were working on lyrics. I guess I forgot to check my phone. What’s going on?”

“OMG! Status update, Jughead and Betty are dating!” Kevin Keller announced. “Why did I have to find out about it online? Why didn’t either of you tell me in person!? Didn’t you think I deserved to know? I’ve been waiting for you two to get together forever!”

“It’s fairly recent,” Jughead answered.

Kevin pouted. “How’d Patrick and Michael find out about it first?”

Jughead cleared his throat, looking from Reggie to Kevin to Archie. “I don’t know,” he lied. “Maybe Patrick overheard something I said to Betty when he was working with us late at the Blue & Gold last night.”

“Still, I think you could have given us a head’s up!” Kevin whined. “We’re your best friends, right Archie?”

Archie looked up from his phone. “Huh? Oh, right! Best friends.”

“So, how did it happen?” Reggie asked.

Jughead frowned. “How did _what_ happen? Since when are you even interested in me or what I do?”

“Dude, you’re dating a cheerleader now,” Reggie pointed out. “You’re almost cool!”

“Well _that’s_ a dream come true,” Jughead grumbled.

Reggie grinned. “Only a lucky few of us get to date cheerleaders, Jug. Do you know how many guys would kill to be you right now?”

“I haven’t thought about it,” Jughead answered, almost breathing a sigh of relief when he saw his faux girlfriend approaching him. “Betty!”

“Hi!” Betty replied, smiling at him. “What’s everybody looking at?”

“We’re just _really_ happy for you two!” Kevin said, beaming. “Ugh, I can’t get over how cute you are together! It’s giving me life!”

“Are you okay with this Archie?” Jughead inquired. “You haven’t said anything about it.”

“What? Oh, no! I’m _fine_ with it!”

“You _are_?” Betty asked weakly, sagging into Jughead slightly.

Archie frowned. “Why wouldn’t I be okay with it? If you two like each other then you should be together.”

Kevin furrowed his eyebrow. “Why would Archie be upset? He’s with Val now. . .”

“Never mind,” Betty muttered. “We have homeroom. We better hurry before the bell rings!”

**.**

“He doesn’t care?” Betty said later on. “This whole thing counts on him caring, Jughead.”

“Give it some time,” Jughead replied. “This thing with Val will probably last two weeks tops and then he’ll start to look for his next girlfriend.”

“He’s your best friend, do you really think he’ll betray the Bro Code and chase me?” Betty sighed. “Maybe we didn’t think this through as well as we should have.”

“Oh I’m counting on him betraying the Bro Code,” Jughead said. “Trust me, we may be best friends but if Archie really wanted something, it wouldn’t stop him from at least trying to get it.”

“I-I really don’t think that’s the way I want to be with Archie though!” Betty protested.

“This is all pretend though,” Jughead reminded her. “It’s not like I’d be losing anything, really. We both knew the goal was to get you together with Archie.”

Betty smiled at her dark-haired best friend. “Thank you. You’re the best for doing this. I don’t know what I would do without you.”

“Probably spend the rest of your life pining over Archie,” Jughead joked as Patrick burst into the room with Cheryl Blossom, Melody Valentine, Ethel Muggs, Midge Klump and Dilton Doily close behind him.

“Guess what!” Ethel addressed both Jughead and Betty.

“I couldn’t begin to guess, why don’t you just tell me!” Betty said.

“Veronica’s coming back from New York!” Cheryl interjected before anybody else could speak. “I think that needs to be a front page exclusive.”

Dilton rolled his eyes. “You’re only saying that because you write the so-called gossip column.”

“And this is _choice_ gossip!” Cheryl answered. “When she left town after sophomore year, we didn’t think she’d ever be return and yet here she is. Most of us are going to graduate in _two_ months!”

“You do know if all of you know about her return, it doesn’t classify as a front page exclusive,” Jughead informed Cheryl.

“Yeah, yeah!” Cheryl waved him off. “But not knowing _why_ has to count for something.”

“Veronica Lodge is not front page news, end of story. You’re free to write about her all you want but we’re still going to put it on the same page that we always do,” Jughead told her.

“Do you think she’s coming back to win Archie once and for all?” Midge asked. “She always seemed to have the hots for him.”

Cheryl’s eyes lit up. “Could I write about _that_!?”

 _“Noooo!”_ Jughead snapped. “That’s hearsay, Cheryl! We’ve been through what constitutes as real journalism before. _TMZ_ style dirt is _NOT_ what we write. Stick to the facts, Veronica’s coming back to town and nobody knows why. No embellishments, no anything that’s going on in your head right now. Melody how’s the piece about the new record store coming along?”

“Wait is this an official Blue & Gold staff meeting?” Dilton asked.

“Well since you’re all here,” Jughead replied.

“Can I write about you and Betty getting together?” Cheryl interrupted. “It’s almost as good as Veronica coming back. Nobody in school thought the two of you were ever going to date _anyone_.”

Jughead shook his head. “Our personal life is _completely_ off limits. Don’t even dare and _try_ to write about it or we’ll do away with the ‘gossip column’ altogether. You’ll be stuck writing. . .”

“About football games for the rest of the semester,” Betty added.

“Football’s over,” Cheryl said.

“I’ll find some kind of sport’s event for you to write about!” Jughead threatened.

Cheryl huffed. “ _Fine!_ But are you going to punish Ledger? He’s the one who blabbed to the 9th grader with the Twitter account.”

“Um. . .” Jughead trailed off, they had wanted Patrick to tell somebody but he knew Cheryl wanted some sort of _retribution_ because he’d threatened to punish her. “Sorry Patrick but we’re not going to run the story about mystery meat. Next time, okay?”

“I didn’t know you didn’t want anyone to know!” Patrick insisted.

“You didn’t do anything wrong,” Betty assured him. “It’s my turn to go and babysit Beatrice this afternoon, why don’t we reconvene after class tomorrow. Juggie, will you walk me to Polly’s house?”

Jughead nodded. “Of course!”

“Give Bee a kiss for me!” Cheryl called after Betty.

“Will do Cheryl,” Betty replied as Jughead slung Betty’s book bag over his shoulder and took her hand.

Midge sighed dreamily. “They’re couple goals.”

Cheryl pursed her red lips and knitted her eyebrows together. “They’re totally hiding something and it’s up to me to get to the bottom of it!”

“I’m pretty sure Jughead just told you to stay out of their relationship,” Dilton said, pushing his glasses up further on the bridge of his nose.

She laughed. “You think I’m going to listen to Jughead, Dillie? There’s something else going on there. I mean, who in their right mind would date _them_? Including each other.”

“They’re not exactly repulsive individuals,” Ethel said. “I’m not surprised somebody would want to be with either of them, if I’m being honest with you.”

Cheryl crossed her arms across her chest. “ _Ugh!_ Nobody asked you, Muggs! I’m still going to investigate their so called relationship. AND if anybody tells them, you’re all going to go to Social Siberia.”

“Most of us are already in Social Siberia,” Dilton said.

Cheryl tossed her hair over her shoulder. “Well, it’ll only get _worse_ then!”

“Listen, somebody’s gotta tell Jughead and Betty what’s going on. . .” Melody said as Cheryl left the room. “Okay, I can do it because I’m in the Pussy Cats. I don’t have to worry about ‘Social Siberia’.”

“If we do that, it’ll just provoke Cheryl,” Dilton answered. “We should just leave her alone, she’ll lose interest soon enough and then we won’t have to worry about it anymore.”

Melody huffed. “ _Fine!_ But if she doesn’t then I am going to tell them about it and there’s nothing any of you can do about it.”

**TBC. . .**

**.**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, there you have it, ladies & gentlemen: Chapter 2. There were some plot twists that even surprised me, fingers it fits with the first chapter. I did say this was canon divergence, so I hope you don’t mind that Betty & Jughead weren’t canonically together in this AU. I love to hear people’s thoughts, so feel free to drop me a review.


	3. Chapter 3

**.**

**Chapter 3**

“Hi guys,” Polly said opening the front door for them, dressed in her Pop’s Diner uniform. “Beatrice! Aunt Betty and her friend are here! She’s watching _Super Why!_ On the iPad, there’s money for pizza in an envelope on the fridge. You’re free to stay as long as you’d like Jughead. And I have to go now. I can’t be late for work again. You know all the rules and routines. I can count on you to follow them!”

“Of course! We’ve babysat for you before, we know how this works.” Betty assured her.

“Walk me to my car?” Polly asked.

“Sure. .  .” Betty trailed off and looked at Jughead. He’d settled Beatrice on his lap and was having an animated conversation with her.

“He’ll be fine with her,” Polly assured her. “I want to talk to you. It’ll just take a second, I promise.”

Betty nodded and followed her sister outside. Polly sat down on the porch steps and pulled on her socks.

“What do you want to talk to me about?” Betty asked.

“Are you and Jughead a thing now? Don’t try and deny it, Elizabeth. I saw you two holding hands when you came up the walkway.”

“We are. . . sort of dating,” Betty replied.

 _“Sort of?”_ Polly repeated. “Either you’re dating or not! So, what is it? You two are always together. This was bound to happen sometime. Men and women just can’t be friends, there’s some sound movie advice for you.”

Betty knew she couldn’t very let Polly in on her’s and Jughead’s plot to make Archie jealous. They’d both be on the receiving end of a lecture if they did. She didn’t want to lie to her sister either. But. . .

“It’s fairly new,” Betty answered. “We’re just testing the waters, seeing if there’s something really there or if we’re projecting.”

“I’m really happy for the both of you!” Polly said, tying her shoelaces and standing up. “You two are so cute and work really well together. I think it’ll work out even in the long run. I’ve got to go. But I want all the details when I get home, okay? And you’re not allowed to leave _anything_ out either.”

**.**

“Well, Polly thinks we’re dating!” Betty told Jughead, interrupting him mid-story. “I didn’t know how to tell her that we’re just in a relationship to get Archie’s attention. And she wants _details_. I don’t think we have any of those!”

“Aunt Betty worries _a lot_ ,” Jughead addressed Beatrice.

Beatrice laughed joyfully, mostly because of the tone of voice Jughead was using more than anything else.

“We need a story, Jughead. Especially since people are going to ask how we got together.”

“I can think better on a full stomach,” Jughead answered. “Why don’t you order some pizza and we’ll talk about it after dinner?”

“It’s not even dinnertime yet,” Betty reminded him.

“Usually we’re at Pop’s having an after school snack right about now,” Jughead replied. “I _need_ food, Betts! It’s vital to my creative process.”

Betty sighed and went to the cabinet. She grabbed a new bag of Goldfish and tossed them at her fake boyfriend. “Here, theses should hold you over until it’s time for supper.”

“Thanks,” Jughead answered, catching them with the deftness of any athlete. “Want some Bee?”

“Gol’ Fish!” Beatrice cheered, raising her arms in the air.

Jughead beamed and tore open the bag with one hand. “You’ve got _great_ taste, Bee. Hey Betty, are there any fruit snacks to wash the Goldfish down with? You know how much we love our fruit snacks.”

Betty sighed again and hunted through the shelves. “Nope, it looks like we’re all out of fruit snacks right now!”

“Frui’ snacks! I want frui’ snacks!” Beatrice demanded her mouth still full of Goldfish.

“You don’t have any more fruit snacks, Bee!” Betty replied, glaring at Jughead as she came over to the couch and sat down next to them.

“What?” Jughead asked innocently. “Polly usually has F-R-U-I-T S-N-A-C-K-S in abundance.”

“Forget about that! I’ll go to the supermarket later and get you as many fruit snacks as you want. We have to come up with the story of how we got together!” Betty replied.

Jughead tossed a handful of crackers into his mouth and chewed thoughtfully before swallowing. “ _You had such persistence, you wore down my resistance. . ._ what? Frank Sinatra isn’t good enough for you?”

“As much as I love Frank Sinatra, I’m not a huge fan of that delivery. Nobody’s going to believe _I_ was the one who pursued you,” Betty told him as he offered her the bag of Goldfish. She took some and rolled them around in her hand. “Not when I’ve been so hung up on Archie all these years.”

 _  
I cannot fix on the hour, or the spot, or the look or the words, which laid the foundation. It is too long ago. I was in the middle before I knew that I had begun,”_ Jughead quoted.

“All these years and I didn’t have you pegged as an Austen fan,” Betty said, biting the tail off one of her Goldish.

“I appreciate all works of great literature,” Jughead told her. “Even _Pride & Prejudice_.”

“We’re way off subjects now,” Betty said. “Stop making literary and music references and help me out!”

“Aunt BEEEE! Frui’ snacks!” Beatrice yelled, leaning over and tugging at her sweater impatiently.

“I told you sweetie, you don’t have any left,” Betty answered.

Jughead put the iPad down and placed Beatrice in Betty’s lap when the little girl’s bottom lip started to quiver. “I’ll go and get some.”

“Juggie, we can’t give her everything she wants when she wants it.”

“It’s more for us than for her,” Jughead assured her. “She’ll start screaming soon and I can’t deal with screaming. If you order pizza, I’ll pick it up on my way back.”

“You’re just trying to get out of our conversation!” Betty accused him jokingly.

“I promise I’ll come up with something worthy of a Nicholas Sparks novel,” Jughead promised as he stood up.

“I know you’ve never read a Nicholas Sparks novel in your life,” Betty said as she hitched Beatrice up on her hip and followed him to the door so she could lock it when he left.

“Yes, but I know the basic premises of every book that he’s ever written,” Jughead answered. “Girl meets boy, they fall in love and lose each other because of some stupid misunderstanding or her parents don’t approve of him. . . . anyways, I’ll be back soon.”

Out of nowhere he kissed her square on the mouth. It only lasted a few seconds and it definitely wasn’t something out of the movies but it startled her.

“What was that for?” She asked, jerking backwards.

“Cheryl’s coming up the driveway _right_ now!” Jughead whispered. “Try and get rid of her as fast as you can. I’ve already spent enough time with her today.”

“Okay,” Betty agreed, waving goodbye to him as he walked down the porch steps.

“Where’s Jughead going?” Cheryl asked, taking Beatrice from Betty’s arms without asking. “Are you two bored with each other’s company already?”

“No. He’s running to the store to get fruit snacks for Beatrice, if you must know!” Betty replied, closing the door and locking it. “Then he’s going to pick up pizza for dinner. What do you want, Cheryl?”

“Do I need a reason to come over and see my niece?” Cheryl asked.

“Um, it’s my night to babysit?” Betty said. “You never want to come over when I’m here. You want Beatrice’s undivided attention.”

Cheryl blinked twice. “Oh. Right.”

Betty pulled her cell phone out and scrolled through numbers until she got to Jughead’s favorite pizza parlor. “What do you _really_ want, Cheryl?”

“I’m just _dying_ to know how you and Jughead got together!” Cheryl replied enthusiastically, sitting down on the couch and feeding Beatrice some more Goldfish.

“If you try to write about it for the gossip column, Jughead won’t publish it.”

“Why? It’s not like I won’t be reporting cold, hard _facts_ ,” Cheryl protested.

Betty shook her head and held the phone up to her ear. “Because, you always have ulterior motives, Cheryl. Hi, this is Betty Cooper. I’d like to place an order. A small plain cheese pizza and a large cheeseburger pizza.”

“Should you really be eating pizza? We’re going to start spring training soon.”

Betty made a face at the red head. “Yeah, throw in a 2-liter of Coke and breadsticks and those cinnamon bite things with the icing dipping sauce. Yes, Jughead will be picking up the order. Thank you! Okay, talk to you later.”

“How can you eat like that?” Cheryl asked in disgust.

Betty shrugged. “It’s mostly for Jughead.”

Cheryl’s eyes gleamed. “So, are you going to tell me how you two got together or not?”

Betty sighed. “Cheryl, to be honest, we haven’t told any of our close friends or family how we got together. I can’t imagine telling _you_ before I tell them!”

“Oh come on, we’re practically family! We share a niece!” Cheryl pouted.

“So?” Betty shook her head. “That doesn’t mean _anything_. It certainly doesn’t mean I can tell you before I tell my own sister what’s going on or Archie and Kevin. Besides, I don’t trust you with my life, Cheryl Blossom. Since I can’t do _that_ , I am not going to trust you with mine and Jughead’s relationship. So, since you’re not going to get anywhere with me, I think you better just leave.”

Cheryl huffed and almost shoved Beatrice back into Betty’s arms. _“Fine!”_

“See you later,” Betty said.

Cheryl smile was evil. “Oh, you most definitely will. This is not over Betty Cooper. I will find out what’s really going on here and you won’t like it when I do.”

“Oh, why don’t you just concentrate on Ronnie? There’s really _nothing_ scandalous going on between me and Jughead,” Betty retorted as she unlocked the door and pushed Cheryl outside. “See you later! ‘Bye!”

Cheryl didn’t even say goodbye as she clicked back to her car.

Betty turned to Beatrice and shook her head. “This is not good.”

Beatrice laughed.

**.**

“Cheryl wanted to know our couple story,” Betty said as she set Beatrice up in her high with the much coveted after Welch’s fruit snacks. “I sent her away but I get the sneaking feeling that she’s trying to find out what’s going on between us and that she’ll eventually expose the _truth_ ala _Cruel Intentions_.”

“We won’t let that happen,” Jughead promised. “In the meantime, we’re going to tell everybody that I’ve always loved you and that after a lot of wooing and love letters and pleading, you decided that you’d take a chance on me. We made it official after our third date because we’re cliché that way even though I hate everything cliché.”

“Okay,” Betty agreed, not knowing half of it was the truth.

**TBC. . .**

**.**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, so let’s officially say that Sunday has become the unofficial day for me to upload this story. I know this story is really seeming to drag out but I promise it’ll pick up soon. I have one scene in particular that I am REALLY looking forward to writing and posting. In the meantime, I hope you liked this chapter and you’ll leave some feedback.
> 
> A couple of notes, Jughead quoted Pride & Prejudice and “I’ve Got a Crush on You” by Frank Sinatra. And I babysit a 2-year-old once a month. He’s obsessed with fruit snacks and has a great vocabulary.   
> Looking forward to hearing from all of you!
> 
> Until Next Time!


	4. Chapter 4

**.**

**Chapter 4**

“Well, I think that’s just fantastic!” Alice Cooper gushed as she served Jughead more chocolate chip pancakes. “You’re way better than Archie, anyways.”

“Mom!” Betty said. “Do you really have to say _that_?”

“Yes, because it’s _true_!” Alice insisted, pouring her daughter more coffee.

“You can’t just say that in front of Jughead, he’s Archie’s best friend!”

“I’m going to be honest, I’m glad you chose me instead of Archie as well,” Jughead said, putting his hand over her’s and smiling at her in a way that would almost made Betty believe he was telling the truth. “I almost never thought it would happen.”

Alice beamed. “Do either of you want tropical fruit salad?”

Jughead glanced at Betty. “Well, that went better than expected.”

“She still thinks Archie is Satan’s spawn,” Betty answered. “She’d be grateful if I dated _anybody_ as long as it wasn’t him.”

“So, I’m just the lesser of the two evils?”  Jughead asked jokingly.

“No, She really likes you,” Betty assured him. She lowered her voice to a whisper. “It’ll probably break her heart when we break up. . . because even if Archie doesn’t ever want to date me, we can’t pretend to be a couple forever. I mean, Cheryl is already onto us.”

Jughead nodded and sipped his coffee thoughtfully. “Well, let’s really give her something to talk about even if Archie doesn’t ever realize you’d be perfect together. It could be fun to pull something on Cheryl for once. Because nothing gets past her.”

Betty laughed. “Careful,” she cautioned. “You could end up spending the rest of your life with me.”

“Well, we wouldn’t want that,” Jughead said carefully.

Betty tucked a strand of hair behind her ear and smiled at him. “You’ve probably never really imagined marrying anyone.”

“That’s not exactly true. . .” Jughead hedged but was interrupted by Alice coming in with the fruit salad and Archie _and_ Veronica.

“I’m back!” Veronica announced without much fanfare, sitting down across from Betty. “We got in late last night, I was on my way to see you when Archie intercepted me. I hear you two _finally_ got together!”

“Finally?” Betty repeated, frowning. “What do you mean by _finally_?”

“Only that it should have happened in 10th grade,” Veronica answered.

“Would you like some coffee, Veronica?” Alice asked begrudgingly.

“That would be lovely, Mrs. Cooper. Thank you,” Veronica replied, smiling at the older woman before continuing her conversation with Betty. “Anyways, anyone with eyes could see Jughead was head-over-heels for you even then.”

Jughead laughed. “I definitely _wasn’t_!”

“They’re so cute when they’re in denial!” Veronica said, stirring cream and sugar into her coffee. “Betty, you should have texted me and told me when it happened!”

“Well, it was fairly recent,” Betty defended. “And you didn’t tell me that you were coming back to Riverdale. Somehow, everybody else found out before me and I had to find out from _the Blue & Gold _staff.”

“Yeah, Cheryl’s going to want to do a piece on your big return,” Jughead said. “You have been warned.”

Veronica waved her hand in the air. “There’s no huge secret behind my return. We were just ready for a change. New York’s finished for us, for real this time. I’m not pregnant or ashamed or any of the other rumors that they’ve been spreading about me. Cheryl won’t have much of a story to write, I’m afraid.”

“Well, we’re glad you’re back,” Betty said sincerely.

“It’s good to be back!” Veronica replied. “I missed it here. I missed all of you.”

Both Jughead and Betty noticed how she looked at Archie especially when she said it.

Betty’s heart sank, she realized Midge was right. Veronica _liked_ Archie, she might not have come back for him but she certainly wanted him.

She cleared her throat. “We’re glad you’re back too,” she answered.

“So, I was thinking, we should all get together tonight and go to the drive-in over in Greendale. They’re showing _Out of Africa_ ,” Veronica suggested. “Kevin and Archie are already in. So, what about you two?”

“Did you ask Val?” Jughead addressed Archie.

“She has plans with Josie and Melody,” Archie answered vaguely.

“Oh. . .” Jughead looked at Betty. “Do you want to go Betts? Robert Redford, Meryl Streep. . . John Barry. It could be fun.”

“Sure, I’d love to go,” Betty agreed hollowly, brightening up a little. “If that’s what you want to do, Jughead.”

“You don’t mind, Mrs. Cooper?” Jughead asked.

Alice cleared her throat. “No. No, I don’t mind but you have to be home _right_ after the movie is over. You can’t make any extra stops. We have church in the morning, Betty.”

Veronica clapped her hands together. “This is going to be so perfect! Just like old times.”

“We remember old times very differently,” Jughead said dryly.

“This is going to be better than old times!” Veronica corrected herself. “We’ll really get to be regular teenagers now! It’s going to be so much fun!”

“Not too much fun!” Alice interjected. “Please not too much fun!”

“Popcorn and Cola kind of fun,” Veronica promised. “No drugs, no whisky flasks. No Cheryl, you have to swear Cheryl won’t come. I can’t deal with her on my first day back.”

“There’s no way she’s invited,” Betty replied, laughing nervously. “Don’t worry.”

**.**

Betty was distracted through the whole movie. Jughead was holding her hand and she couldn’t concentrate even though _Out of Africa_ was one of her favorite films ever. But even though she knew it was all a pretense, her good friend’s fingers laced through her’s was a new concept.

She glanced over at Archie and saw how busy he was with Veronica and knew he wasn’t paying any attention. But Jughead was so engrossed in the movie, he didn’t seem to notice.

All Betty knew was their no-fail plan was doomed. There was nothing stopping Archie from ending things with Val and tumbling head first into Veronica’s arms, probably like it was always supposed to be if the Latina beauty had never left Riverdale in the first place.

Betty had lost again.

**TBC. . .**

**.**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Another short update. I am sorry! I was really sick this week (the first of many sore throats and sinus infections I’ll get this year). This chapter sets up the rest of the story though, I hope you enjoyed the little I gave you. I am on the mend, so there should be more soon! I’m going to outline the rest of the story tonight.


	5. Chapter 5

**.**

**Chapter 5**

Jughead and Betty smiled at each other awkwardly. Their friends were peering through the car windows.

“They want you to kiss me goodnight,” Betty informed him. “They’re waiting for it.”

“Oh, I see.” Jughead rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly.

“I just don’t see what the point would be,” Betty answered, glancing over her shoulder, everyone including Archie was watching them with high expectations on their faces. “He’s not going to be jealous whatever we do. . .

  
There was movement at the curtain and Betty could see her mother _and_ Polly peeking through the lace.

“We have an audience,” Jughead whispered.

Betty sighed. “Maybe we should have predicted that this would be a bad idea,” she said. “Did you see him tonight? That’s the way you look when you really love somebody. You know? He’s never looked at anybody that way before. He’s certainly never looked at _me_ that way before.”

“Hurry it up Jug! I have to be home in 20 minutes!” Veronica hollered, blaring her horn at them. “Unless you’re planning on spending the night!”

“I’m beckoned,” Jughead said. “Try and relax. Everything’s going to be okay. I know it isn’t going the way we expected it to but maybe everything will work out in the end.”

Alice threw the window open. “You should come to church with us in the morning, Jughead.”

“Sure,” Jughead agreed easily, giving Betty a kiss on the cheek. “I’ll text you when I get home, okay?”

“Okay. Goodnight Jughead,” Betty replied, hugging him. She watched him leave, wrapping her sweater tightly around her, she waved at him as he got into the car and then turned around to go inside her house.

“How was it?” Alice asked. “Veronica and Archie didn’t make too much trouble, did they?”

 _“Mom!”_ Betty groaned as she pulled her sweater off and started up the stairs.

“I just don’t want you to get hurt again!” Alice insisted.

“Mom, she’s with Jughead now. I-I don’t think that’s going to bother her that much,” Polly said, trying to pull her mom away from following her younger sister to her bedroom. “I know you’re worried but everything is going to be _okay_! Jughead loves her. He won’t let anything bad happen to her. And I don’t think Veronica will do anything, she’s one of Betty’s best friends.”

“I-I just want to make sure!” Alice said.

Betty shut the door behind her. She couldn’t bear to hear her family discuss her boyfriend lie among themselves. She flopped down on her bed and pulled a pillow over her head.

She was _miserable_.

Her phone buzzed, she pulled it out of her pocket and glanced at the screen. When she saw it was Jughead texting her, she punched her passcode in and smiled when she saw he had sent to her.

**JH -** _It's an odd feeling, farewell. There is such envy in it. Men go off to be tested, for courage. And if we're tested at all, it's for patience, for doing without, for how well we can endure loneliness._

**Betty -** _We literally just saw Out of Africa, it doesn’t count. It’s already in your head._

**JH -** _I got home safely. I’ll see you tomorrow._

**Betty -** _Oh no! I cannot sleep right now, you’ve got to keep me company. Tell me something nice. . ._

**JH -** _Why can’t you sleep?_

**Betty -** _Too much going on my head. Please, distract me._

There was a long pause between his next reply and she thought that maybe he wasn’t going to keep her company when she got a notification that she was getting a request for a video call. She clicked the accept button and Jughead’s face filled the screen. He was beanie-less and wearing plaid pajamas.  

“How about a bedtime story?” he asked.

“Okay,” Betty agreed.

“Mmmh, I didn’t think you’d say yes. I have to think here,” Jughead said. “Alright. I have one. Once upon a time in a place called River of Dale, there lived a small peasant boy who was friends with a beautiful princess. And he loved her, he had loved her ever since the very first day he had seen her picking wildflowers in a field. Every time he was near her, he ached physically because he knew all he would ever be was her friend. She had already promised her heart to a fair prince. But he knew it was better to just be her friend than not have her in his life at all. She was one of the only bright spots in his small existence.”

“Did she ever find out that he loved her?” Betty asked.

“You know it’s never that simple,” Jughead answered.

“He loved her, it should have been simple.”

Jughead shushed her. “I thought I was telling the story here!”

“Okay, okay. Hold on, I’m going to get into my pajamas!” Betty said.

“Fine but you better hurry,” Jughead replied.

Betty nodded and turned her phone over so he wouldn’t see her get changed. A few minutes later, she climbed back into bed and pulled the covers up to her chin. “So, the peasant boy and the princess. What happened to them, Juggie? I hope they had a happy ending.”

Jughead’s face softened. “Yeah. Yeah, they did. The pauper told the princess that he loved her and for a while, they didn’t speak. They were apart for so long, she realized she missed him and that she loved him too. So, she went to his cottage, he was working in the garden. She went right up to him in all her finery and kissed him. He was surprised at first and he pulled away and asked her what she’d done it for.

“He could hardly allow himself to hope it was for the reasons he was hoping they were for. Then, she said the three words he’d been dying to hear ever since the first time he’d seen her. _I love you. I cannot imagine what life would look like without you. I want you by my side for as long as we both shall live. Would you be willing to walk away from all this and share the rest of your life with me?_ ”

Jughead paused for a second, Betty was watching him completely enraptured with his story.

“And?” she prodded, breathlessly.

“He told her that he still loved her, he couldn’t imagine a world where he didn’t ever love her and that he would be more than happy to spend the rest of his life with her,” Jughead continued. “She swept him off his feet and into her royal carriage. They went to the palace together and they made plans for a wedding. The whole kingdom came to help them celebrate and they lived happily ever after.”

 

“What about the prince? The one the princess had promised her heart to?”

“He didn’t mind too much. He had met a Hispanic queen from a neighboring kingdom and she was good for him. They got married, it was very political but they loved each other. They remained good friends with the king and queen of River of Dale until they all passed on.”

Jughead stalled, he knew Betty was smart enough to connect the dots and figure out who everybody really was.

“You’re a wonderful storyteller,” she said instead of pointing out the similarities between fact and fiction. “One day everybody’s going to know who you are and I’m going to be so proud of you.”

“Elizabeth, go to sleep! We have church in the morning!”

“Okay mom!” Betty replied, smiling at Jughead. “I’ll see you in the morning?”

Jughead nodded. “I might be struck dead as soon as I go into the sanctuary but I’ll see you there bright and early. Sweet dreams Betts.”

“Sweet dreams Juggie,” she replied.

**.**

Betty was juggling Beatrice and a hymn book when Jughead rescued her.

“Sorry I’m late,” he whispered, holding up the hymn book so Alice couldn’t tell they were talking. “JB needed breakfast and mom was at the hospital, dad was sleeping because he and Mr. Andrews were working late last night.”

“It’s okay,” Betty assured him as she smiled.

“Shhhh!” Alice hissed, putting her finger to her lips and shaking her head at them.

Jughead smirked at Betty. “By the way, you look really pretty today.”

“Do I have to come and sit between you two?” Alice whispered. “Shhhh!”

“Thank you!” Betty mouthed, adjusting Beatrice on her hip and nodding towards the hymnal. He lifted it and followed along while she sang.

**.**

“Are you coming over for dinner, Jughead?” Alice asked as she gathered up bulletins and Beatrice’s diaper bag. “We’re having a pot roast and hasselback potatoes with roasted carrots. Betty made a strawberry trifle for dessert.”

“You don’t have to come if you don’t want to,” Betty told him. “We’ve been together all weekend. I’m sure your mother and father will want you to be home at some point.”

“Betty! Is that any way to talk to your boyfriend?” Alice chided.

“I should go home and have lunch with my family,” Jughead said, kissing Betty on the cheek before tweaking Beatrice’s nose. “But maybe I could swing by later on? Bring JB? I would hate to miss Betty’s dessert.”

“We would love to have you,” Betty assured him. “ _Both_ you and JB. We’ll see you later, okay?”

Alice took her granddaughter and beamed at Betty as Jughead left. “He is such a nice boy!” she said.

“Yes, I know!” Betty said. “Come on, let’s go home.”

“Honey, what’s going on?” Alice asked, trailing her. “Are you and Jughead having problems already? You can tell me if you are?”

“No, no. We’re not having problems. Don’t worry about it, everything’s fine. I just have a lot on my mind, like why I haven’t heard from the last few schools I applied to!” Betty lied, slowing down and taking a deep breath. “But Jughead, he’s perfect. We’re. . . great.”

Alice stopped and took her arm. “I’m trying to be a better mother. You know you can tell me anything, anything at all.”

Betty hesitated but didn’t say anything at all.

**TBC. . .**

**.**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know it was confirmed that *spoiler alert* Polly is having twins but it’s a little too late to add that detail. Anyways. . . I know you probably want to see the dessert/JB/Jughead scene. It’s coming. I promise. In the meantime, I hope you’ll leave a review. I’m looking forward to hearing your thoughts. If you have spring break this week, enjoy it!


	6. Chapter 6

**.**

**Chapter 6**

She was trifling with him, no pun intended. Standing there in her church clothes and serving JB strawberry trifle while she engaged her in conversation and was actually interested in what she had to say. Totally oblivious to how he really felt about her. He stabbed at a strawberry with his fork and looked away when she caught him looking at her.

How had he been so _vacuous_ of him to suggest that he pretend to be her boyfriend? It had just slipped out, he didn’t know what he had been hoping to accomplish when he’d offered himself as a device to get her together with Archie. He certainly hadn’t been expecting for his best friend to realize that he and Betty were meant to be together just because another guy was interested in her.

It wasn’t Archie’s style.

Besides.

Jughead had realized how amazing Betty was within the first five seconds of meeting her. How, even at the young age of _six_ , she could be the girl he spent the rest of his life with. He had loved her all this time.

“Juggie, you’ve barely touched your trifle. Do you not like it?” Betty asked, breaking into his thoughts as she adjusted her lace blouse, her blonde fishtail braid swinging as she moved her head.

“It’s as amazing as always,” Jughead assured her, putting some in his mouth and chewing it.

Betty leaned against the counter and looked at him inquisitively. “You seem distracted. What’s going on?”

Jughead scooped more trifle into his sundae glass, if his mouth was full, he wouldn’t be able to answer her.

“Jughead’s in love,” Jellybean teased.

“Oh really?” Betty smiled. “With who?”

“You mean you don’t know?” Jellybean raised an eyebrow and smirked. “He hasn’t. . . ouch! Jughead, why did you just kick me!?”

“I didn’t kick you, it must have been Beatrice,” Jughead teased.

Jellybean narrowed her eyes at her older brother. “Bee is sitting in her booster seat, she couldn’t have kicked me!”

“Jughead obviously doesn’t want you to tell his secret, JB,” Betty said, topping off the younger girl’s dessert.

Jellybean pouted. “But it’s a _really_ good secret!” she argued.

“Some secrets aren’t meant to be told,” Betty told her. “Especially if the person with secrets doesn’t want you to say anything. You’ve got to let the person tell it for themselves.”

Jellybean glanced at Jughead and shook her head. “There’s no way he’s going to tell.”

“And that’s his choice,” Betty reminded her.

“Thank you,” Jughead mouthed.

“You’re welcome,” she mouthed back, smiling at him. “Who wants lattés?” she asked aloud. “Mom? Jughead?”

“I’d like a latté!” Jellybean answered.

“She’s been drinking Coca-Cola all morning, there’s no way she needs _coffee_!” Jughead said.

“You can make decaf, Elizabeth,” Alice suggested. “Of course I don’t want to cause friction with you and your boyfriend.”

 _“Boyfriend?”_ Jellybean repeated, her mouth dropping open. “When were you going to mention that little detail, brother mine?”

Jughead shoved a huge spoonful of trifle in his mouth, so he’d have an excuse not to say anything.

“It’s fairly recent,” Betty said as she got her French press out and filled Pyrex with filtered water. “He would have told you eventually, I’m sure.”

“Jughead, you should ask her to come over for dinner on Friday night,” Jellybean suggested.

Jughead tensed and wiped whipped cream away from his mouth with the back of his hand. “Betty and I usually watch a movie on Friday night.”

“I’m going to a sleepover afterwards,” Jellybean said. “You can still watch your lame black & white movie. Maybe have a double-date with mom and dad.”

“It’s not like she hasn’t already met mom and dad before,” Jughead retorted.

“But she hasn’t come over as your girlfriend,” Jellybean pointed out. “Come to think of it, she hasn’t come over in a while as anything and we just moved into the new trailer. _AND_ you’re making it sound like you don’t want her there!”

Jughead sighed in exasperation. “It’s not a trailer, JB! It’s a _double-wide_ , there’s a difference. Betty, you’re free to come over whenever you want. You can come over right now if you’d like! I would love for you to have dinner with us.”

“Friday night works out just fine for me,” Betty assured him. “I’m looking forward to it.”

**.**

“Are you sure you heard right?” Cheryl asked Patrick. “That they’re _dating_?”

“I know what I heard, Blossom!” Patrick replied as he tried to navigate his video game with her standing in front of his console.

“But they totally don’t act like a couple. Isn’t that a little weird?” Cheryl said.

“I don’t know,” Patrick said, looking at Michael and hitting the pause button on his controller. “Maybe they’re just not into public displays of affection.”

Michael nodded in agreement. “Yeah. You know it does happen some people can control themselves, Cheryl.”

“These two haven’t gotten anything _ever_. They should be all over each other.”

Patrick rolled his eyes. “We’re in the middle of a game here! Don’t you have anything better today like maxing out your gold credit card?”

“No. I said I was going to get to the bottom of this and that’s what I’m going to do!” Cheryl retorted, stomping her foot. “Now are you going to help me or _not_?”

 _“NOT!”_ Patrick answered. “They said you couldn’t write an article about their relationship. I like Jughead and Betty, there’s no way I’m going to help you do whatever it is you’re doing.”

“What about you Mikey?” Cheryl cooed.  “Do you want to use your connections to help me?”

“Sorry, I only use social media for good, not for evil,” Mike answered, grabbing his Yahoo and taking a sip.

Cheryl’s syrupy sweet demeanor changed. “You two will be sorry. Even though I’m graduating soon, I can make sure the rest of your high school experience is miserable. _Trust me!_ ”

“Go ahead then!” Patrick challenged. “Make my high school experience as miserable as possible. _Trust me_ , I really don’t care! Being popular, it doesn’t thrill me at all! Now could you please leave? I really don’t want to spend my whole entire Sunday afternoon with you. Thank you and don’t let the door hit you on your way out.”

**.**

“We need to do something,” Patrick told Melody and the rest of the Blue & Gold staff the next morning. “Cheryl is going to ruin their relationship if we don’t stop her.”

“I say we should tell them,” Melody answered. “Give them a chance to kick her off the paper for good. She’s always just causing trouble with her so called gossip column.”

Dilton’s smile was a tad evil. “I could take her on a camping trip and leave her in the woods until it’s time for graduation.”

“That would not work Dilton,” Melody said, frowning at him. “Somebody would find her right away. No, we have to divert her attention from investigative reporting them. Does anybody have anything good about Veronica?”

“One of my scouts saw her and Archie at Sweetwater yesterday,” Dilton said.

Melody nodded. “That’s good. Somebody needs to plant that little bit of information in her ear, maybe it’ll distract her for a while. Somebody needs to remind her that she’s supposed to be writing about Veronica anyways.”

“We could just tell Jughead and Betty what’s going on,” Midge suggested.

Melody shook her head. “No. No way, we’re not going to pop their nice little honeymoon bubble. We can handle this by ourselves, we don’t need them to sweep in and save us. It’s our turn to save them!”

“Save them from what?” Midge asked.

“Cheryl Blossom!” Melody answered. “Let’s do this thing, gang!”

**TBC. . .**

**.**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I had the longest week! I started job training on Tuesday and it’s literally a 9-5 work day (except 8:30 to 3:30). I know everyone wants a real kiss and I promise it is coming. It’s coming soon I hope you’ll be patient. I needed to address Cheryl still looking for the truth or it would have happened sooner. I just didn’t want to forget about that vital part of the story. If you feel so inclined, I’d love to hear from you. Drop a review! 
> 
> And I hope you’ve had the happiest of Easters!


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I kind of imagine Robin Tunney, Neve Campbell or Selma Blair as Gladys. Pick which one you like and run with it.

**.**

**Chapter 7**

Friday came too quickly. Jughead had been dreading this day the whole entire week he wasn’t ashamed to bring Betty home to have dinner with his parents. His dad was sober and was holding down a respectable job with Mr. Andrews, his mom was a nurse at Riverdale Memorial and they had moved into a nice trailer that looked more like an actual house than a trailer.

But he didn’t want it to be pretend. He didn’t want to lie to his parents, but it was too late. Jellybean had already told his parents about him and Betty. Gladys had been so happy, she’d planned the menu three days in advance and there was no getting out of it. He couldn’t even tell his mother the truth even though it had been on the tip of his tongue while he’d helped her make chocolate chip cookies for the breakroom at work.

“I’m nervous,” Betty admitted as they made their way up the gravel driveway, she was carrying Gerber daisies.

“Don’t be,” Jughead said, taking her free hand in his. “My parents already love you, Jellybean really likes you. Everything will be okay and you look _great_.”

Betty tugged at her light pink cami dress. “Are you sure I’m not overdressed? I wanted to make a good impression on your parents.”

“It’s 12 years too late to make a good first impression, Betts,” Jughead teased, stopping to look at her. “Maybe the golden leather shoes are a little much though.”

Betty frowned. “They’re slip-ons and gold is a neutral.”

“I’m just kidding,” Jughead assured her. “You really do look amazing. I’m the luckiest fake boyfriend in Riverdale.”

Betty smiled at him. “We don’t have to pretend for much longer. Like I said before, it’s not going to work.”

“I know. Are you alright? We haven’t really talked about everything this week.”

Betty sighed. “I’m okay. Really, I am. Veronica and Archie are good for each other, I was fooling myself to think he and I would ever work out. Cheryl is going to do whatever she wants, no matter what. I don’t want to think about it tonight. Let’s go and have a nice dinner with your family. Okay?”

“Okay,” Jughead agreed, opening the door for her. “Mom, we’re here!”

“I’m in the kitchen, Jug!” Gladys called.

She was standing by the stove, dressed in scrubs and stirring a pot of red sauce with a wooden spoon. Her dark hair was pulled away from her face and she looked tired after pulling a 12 hour shift but she smiled when she saw the teenagers standing in the doorway.

“Hi Mom,” Jughead said, going over and giving her a kiss. “Need help with anything?”

“It’s about done. You can drain the pasta if you’d like,” Gladys answered, turning to Betty and smiling. “It’s been _forever_ since you came over. I’m glad it’s under these kinds of circumstances, you are the only girl who he’s ever. . .”

“Mom!” Jughead protested as he dumped the noodles into a colander.

“What?” Gladys asked innocently, looking at her son’s face. “Oh. Oh! I’m sorry, I thought. . . never mind! Betty, I hope you like spaghetti and sauce. I was going to make lasagna but that didn’t work out the way I wanted it to.”

“I’ll eat anything, Mrs. Jones,” Betty assured her, gasping. “Oh, I brought flowers!”

“They’re beautiful! Do you mind putting them in a vase for me? There’s one on the top of the refrigerator.”

“Mom, she’s our guest. You can’t ask her to do something like that!” Jughead protested, mortified.

“Don’t worry about it Juggie, I don’t mind!” Betty assured him as she stood on her tiptoes to reach the vase.

“Let me at least get it for you,” Jughead said, coming up behind her and taking it down without any effort.

Betty set to arranging the flowers while Gladys called Jellybean to come and set the table so they could eat. A few seconds before they were going to sit down, full of apologies for running so late. Jughead wanted to be embarrassed but Betty was so gracious, he couldn’t be upset for too long.

He twirled his spaghetti around his fork and tried not to think about how well she fit into his life.

**.**

After they’d cleaned up the kitchen, his mom and dad went to drop Jellybean off at her sleepover and get ice cream for everybody else. Jughead and Betty went to sit in the living room.

“Want to listen to some records?” Jughead asked as she kicked off her shoes and perched on the edge of the couch. He needed to distract himself. “I was at the thrift store the other day and I found a brand-new copy of an old Temptations single.”

“You can play it if you’d like,” Betty answered, folding her hands in her lap.

“Okay,” Jughead said, taking the vinyl out of its jacket and putting it on his vintage turntable. He gave it a spin and put the needle down. A few seconds later, music filled the room. He cleared his throat and turned around to look at her, resting against his dresser drawer.

Their eyes met and she smiled at him gently. He took the last few steps between them and sat down on the bed beside her. She had worn her hair down and he reached out to touch it, almost subconsciously.

“You’re so beautiful,” Jughead whispered.

Betty blushed. “I’m really not _that_ beautiful!” she protested.

“I wish you could see what I could see,” Jughead answered, tracing his finger from her ear to her jawline. He leaned in a little closer and Betty breathed in sharply but she didn’t pull away. He waited a beat and then closed the gap between them.

It was tentative at first, neither of them had done a lot of kissing before, if they had done any.  

Betty sat there, frozen before putting her arms around him and reciprocating. Her lips were warm and inviting, a soft contrast to his constantly chapped ones.

“Am I doing this right?” he whispered.

Betty giggled. “Your guess is as good as mine.”

He pressed his lips against her’s for again. The way Heath Ledger had kissed Julia Stiles for the second time in _10 Things I Hate About You_ and she returned it with the kind of fervor he hadn’t even dared dream she would ever direct towards him.

And suddenly all thoughts about doing it right disappeared. Everything in his head was quiet he could only hear the music and Betty’s quiet sighs. He moved his hand to her cheek and deepened the kiss, experimenting a little with his tongue, she tasted like cotton candy chapstick and cherry-lime soda.

She pushed her fingers through his hair and they fell backwards into the couch. Jughead didn’t know what was coming next. He was content just to sit there with her, surrounded by her warmth. Before it could get any further, before there was any more tongue and teeth the record stopped playing and the front door opened.

“Kids we’re back! Who’s ready to watch one of Jughead’s insanely old movies and eat ice cream!?” FP chirped suppressing laughter when he saw the two of them still almost tangled up in each other.

“FP, come with me into the kitchen and we’ll make sundaes!” Gladys instructed pushing her husband through the hallway.

Betty blushed and cleared her throat. Jughead suddenly felt insecure, he put some distance between them just to get some clarity. But he really hoped that maybe she was starting to like him too.

**TBC. . .**

**.**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This week's chapter of the Boyfriend Plot is brought to you by early mornings and iced coffee and a Temptations song on repeat. The song being “Just My Imagination (Running Away With Me)”, a fitting song for Jughead in this story. I hope you liked this chapter, my first attempt at a real make out scene was kind of a fail but I’ll try again soon. Drop a review and tell me what you thought, if you have the time! I am looking forward to hearing from you.


	8. Chapter 8

**.**

**Chapter 8**

Things were different between the pair, for sure. _But_ Cheryl Blossom still doubted the authenticity of their relationship. Mostly because of how drastic the change was. They went from being too polite to each other in public to holding hands and chaste kisses between classes. Things just didn’t add up but she wasn’t any closer to finding out the truth.

And everybody was making it difficult for her to get to the bottom of it.

She was going to have to do something drastic to get the answers she wanted. She finished rifling through Betty’s book bag and deftly lifted out the diary the other girl was always scribbling in. If there was anything going on, it was all in these pages.

She was going to use it to expose Betty and Jughead for the liars they were. She didn’t care who got hurt or that they had asked her not to. She’d never been one for protecting people or their feelings.

**.**

“We need to go shopping for prom!” Veronica said to Betty. “You _are_ going, right? Jughead has asked you?”

“We agreed to go with each other,” Betty answered. “I suppose you’re going with Archie?”

Veronica nodded. “He had the cutest promposal. There was an original song and everything! So, would you like to go to Boston and look for dresses with me? I know we won’t be able to find anything on the same caliber as what we could find in New York but we can try at least.”

“I was just going to go to the thrift store because I really don’t have that much money,” Betty said cautiously.

“Ugh, Elizabeth!” Veronica whined. “If all the clothes at the Goodwill here weren’t completely unacceptable, I’d let you shop there until your heart was content. But the truth is, friends don’t let friends wear bad clothes.”

“You’re such a snob, Ronnie.”

“I know,” Veronica said, pulling up Google on her phone. “But I’m sure we can find something decent at a thrift store in Boston, if you’re dead set on buying second-hand dress.”

“It’s not like it’s my wedding, I can’t fathom spending an obscene amount of money for a dress I am only going to wear once.”

“You only wear your wedding dress once too, sweetie pie!” Veronica reminded her. “And senior prom _is_ a big celebration. It’s the end of everything, the last chance we might all have to be together. Until our 10 year class reunion where we all pretend our lives are better than they really are. Well. Except for me, of course. My life really will be as fabulous as I say it is when we all get together again.”

Betty tucked her hair behind her ears. “Okay. So, when do you want to go shopping?”

Veronica clapped her hands together. “Oooh! Let’s cut class and go tomorrow! It will be so much fun! We can go to Au Bon Pain for lunch and maybe stop into _the Museum of Fine Arts_ if we have time! And I just found a thrift store on Yelp! called _Boomerangs_. They sell designer labels there for a reasonable price and it’s non-profit! Win-win! Anyways, do you want to go or not?”

“I’ve never skipped a class a day in my life!” Betty said. “I had food poisoning in December and I still went to school.”

“Neither snow nor rain nor heat nor gloom of night?” Veronica teased.

“I’m pretty sure that’s the mailman’s creed,” Betty replied.

Veronica rolled her eyes and pursed her lips together. “Come on Betty! Everybody takes a senior skip day! And you definitely deserve it more than anyone I know. You’ve put all the time in.”

Betty sighed. “Okay, fine! But we have to do our homework on the train to and from Boston.”

“You’re no fun at all!” Veronica pouted. “But if it’ll get you to come with me then I guess we’ll do it.”

“You don’t have to do homework,” Betty amended.

Veronica put her arm through Betty’s as they started to walk down the school hall. “I know you already got into all the good schools and you haven’t been like those crazy girls who get a boyfriend and suddenly your life revolves around them. You do know Cheryl thinks you two really aren’t together?”

Betty sighed. “Yes. Melody told me about it.”

“She doesn’t get it. You and Jughead just aren’t the types to have much PDA. You share intense, intimate moments in private though,” Veronica said.

Betty remembered the way Jughead had kissed her on his living room couch and flushed. It certainly had been intense and intimate, she was still tingling from it. She was still trying to figure out what it meant.

Because as long as she could remember, she had always loved Archie. She’d always loved Jughead too but in a different way. Now she was wondering if it had been reversed and she had always loved him the way she thought she loved Archie.

“Are you still with me, B?” Veronica asked, breaking into her thoughts.

Betty cleared her throat. “Yeah. I’m sorry I spaced out for a second. I was just thinking.”

Veronica’s eyes twinkled. “About Jughead? Are you supposed to meet him? Is he going to walk you home from school? Ugh! You two are such a fifties aesthetic, it’s _so_ adorable!”

Betty gasped. “Oh! We have a staff meeting with the Blue & Gold! I’ll see you tomorrow!”

“Bright and early!” Veronica called after her. “I’ll bring coffee!”

“Thank you!” Betty answered, waving.

Jughead was leaning against the door and waiting for her when she came up. She wondered if the way his face lit up when he made eye contact with her was all in her imagination because she was starting to have feelings for him.

“Hi,” he said.

Her heart skipped a beat. “Hi,” she replied, smiling at him.

“Why are you looking at me like that?” Jughead asked, returning her smile.

Betty laughed. “What are you talking about? I always look at you like this!”

Jughead grasped her by the wrist as she moved to get into the Blue & Gold office and leaned in to her. She tilted her head to the side and looked at him before meeting him halfway for a kiss. It was even nicer than their first one. Betty sighed and put her arms around him. She wondered what it all meant, if they were done pretending and slipping into something real.

“I told you it was real, Cheryl! Will you just drop it now?” Ethel said, interrupting them. She grinned at Jughead and Betty. “Hi guys!”

Jughead cleared his throat. “Hi everybody. What’s going on?”

Cheryl sighed and looked at her fingernails with a bored expression. “We have a staff meeting, remember?”

“Right!” Jughead said, slipping his arm around Betty. “Well, let’s get to it then!”

**TBC. . .**

**.**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know this was a little short and I spent just a bit of time on the Cheryl thing but more is coming on that end. I had another long week, I barely have time to breathe never mind write. But I had a job interview today and a trial run tomorrow, it might provide me with flexibility if I get it. So, if you think about keep your fingers crossed for me. I’ll keep you guys updated and no matter what, I’ll keep writing. I hope you liked this chapter and you’ll drop a review.
> 
> Until Next Time!


	9. Chapter 9

**.**

**Chapter 9**

Betty’s diary was by far the most boring thing that Cheryl had ever read. All she had written about was the recipes she’d found on Pinterest that she wanted to try. The only mention of Jughead she had made was a question about whether or not he would be interested in _Lucky Charm_ bark.

Cheryl rolled her eyes and flipped through the pages. She was not at all interested in a domestic Betty Cooper or what Jughead would like more for lunch.

She was about to give up completely when she found an entry marked with the date that Jughead and Betty had gone public as a couple.

She began to read it eagerly.

_Jughead and I have decided to pretend we’re boyfriend and girlfriend in an attempt to get Archie to notice me for once and for all. . . I am not sure what will happen. Maybe he’ll finally realize I am the one he wants when he realizes he can’t be with me anymore. Or maybe it isn’t meant to be at all. But I need to know. I need to know so maybe I will finally have everything I’ve wanted or finally move on._

_Hopefully I won’t be moving on. Hopefully Archie will finally realize we’re perfect for each other and we can go spend the rest of our life together._

Cheryl smirked as she rifled through the rest of the book, the article exposing them as liars was practically writing itself. And she had the added bonus of making Betty look like a stupid, hopeless romantic. She wouldn’t have to do very much work at all.

She could barely wait to see everybody’s reactions. Betty’s was going to be particularly sweet.

**.**

She broke into the Blue & Gold office after everybody was gone for the day. She was skilled at picking locks because her parents would always lock their bedroom door around birthdays and Christmas because she had a tendency to look at her presents before it was time, effectively ruining the surprise.

This time she had more motivation than Prada handbags and Tiffany’s lockets.

She closed the door behind her and turned on the ancient computer close to it, plopping down in the chair as she did. She opened a Microsoft Word document, she propped Betty’s diary up and began to type quickly, Betty had taken a skip day and she wanted to make sure she got it out to the student body before she got back.

**.**

“Are you almost done Betty?” Veronica asked as she tapped her foot impatiently on the floor. “I still haven’t found my dress yet and we’re running out of time!”

“Um, I’m not sure about this dress. . .”  Betty answered, pushing the curtain back and stepping outside of the changing room, she hitched up the dress. “It’s kind of. . .”

“Amazing!” Veronica gushed. “You’re smoking hot! Jughead won’t be able to take his eyes off of you.”

“You’re sure it’s not too tight?” Betty frowned, looking at herself from different angles.

“It’s _Alexander McQueen_!”

“So? What does that even mean? His dresses can still be tight for a certain individual.”

Veronica nodded and adjusted the off the shoulder sleeves for her. “That is very true but this particular cut is supposed to fit that way. You should totally buy it, B! The price is right and I don’t think anything else you try on today will compare. Trust me.”

“Are you sure?” Betty asked uncertainly.

Veronica frowned. “Do you not know how good you really look?”

“It’s just. . .” Betty trailed off and decided to share her heart with the other girl. “I really think I am falling in love with Jughead and I want him to feel the same way.”

Veronica laughed. “Trust me, he does. I was there when we were in 11th grade and I’ve never seen anyone look at a girl the way he looks at you. Trust me and buy the dress, you’re going to knock his socks off. He won’t even know what hit him when he sees you.”

Betty looked at herself from all different angles and sighed. “I guess its okay.”

Veronica’s phone buzzed. “Hold on B, we’ll continue this discussion in a second. Archie just texted me,” her mouth dropped open. “Oh my. . . Betty, you’ll never believe what just happened!”

“What?” Betty asked, completely unassuming of what was coming next.

“Cheryl just e-mailed an article to the whole student body about how you and Jughead were fake dating to make Archie jealous.”

Betty faltered. “We. . . we were,” she finally admitted. “But that was before you came back to town and before I knew that you really liked him. If you had been here, I would have never. . .”

Veronica put a soothing hand on Betty’s bare shoulder and shook her head. “I’ve done a lot worse in my life. You don’t have to explain anything to me. Come on, let’s get you home.”

She helped her out of the dress and put it back on the hanger.

“I can get dressed by myself,” Betty told her hollowly, she felt sick to her stomach and she was resisting the urge to dig her fingernails into the palms of her hands. She didn’t know how she was going to face anyone. Everything in her mind was a hurricane of emotion.

“Hey B,” Veronica said, leaning against a wall as Betty pulled her sweater over her head.

“What?”

“How on _earth_ did Cheryl even find out the two of you were pretending?” Veronica asked.

Betty shrugged and then froze, she could feel all the warmth drain from her body. “Oh no!”

Veronica frowned. “What? What is it?”

Betty lunged for her book bag and frantically pulled out her homework assignments and school books. “No, no, NO!”

 _“What is it!?”_ Veronica repeated, kneeling down beside Betty to pick up the discarded papers.

“It’s not here, Veronica! She stole it, Cheryl stole my diary!”

**.**

Jughead and Archie were waiting for them when they got off the train. Betty swallowed hard, she didn’t know what to say or do. She wanted to run away but Veronica kissed her on the cheek and wished her luck before to grabbing her boyfriend by the arm before he could say anything to her and strolling off.

“Talk to her!” She mouthed to Jughead as they passed him.

“How are you?” Betty asked immediately. “Are you okay? Is everyone treating you badly?”

“They’re not treating me any worse than they did when they thought my dad killed Jason,” Jughead answered. “How about you? Your phone must be buzzing with tweets and texts.”

Betty shook her head. “No. I don’t know. Ronnie had me turn off my phone. . . she knows how to handle a scandal.”

“This is hardly scandalous. People have done worse things than pretend to be boyfriend and girlfriend to get somebody else’s attention,” Jughead answered. “The only person who got hurt here is _you_.”

“You did too.”

“I’ll be okay,” Jughead told her. “I am used to having people say bad things about me. I’m more concerned about _you_!”

Betty shouldered her book bag and shook her head. “Don’t be. It’s not like we’re actually dating, right?”

Jughead frowned. “What? That doesn’t matter! We’re still friends! And if we’re not actually dating, what is it we’ve been doing?”

“Making out in the Blue & Gold office a few times! Newsflash, that hardly counts as dating!” Betty replied. “That’s friends with benefits and that’s not even friends with benefits, it’s hardly the thing before it! You know, I don’t even know why you agreed to pretend to be my boyfriend! It was a stupid idea!”

Jughead took a step towards her, put his hands on both her shoulders and looked her in the eyes. “It’s because _I love you_ , okay? I love you Betty! And all I ever want to do is see you happy! So, I said I’d help you try and get Archie to realize he liked you back. Because even though I knew I might never have a chance to be with you, at least you’d be happy. I-I didn’t count on Veronica coming back or her and Archie getting together. I didn’t count on Cheryl trying to expose the truth about us and I certainly didn’t count on hoping you’d love me back. But now I do.”

Betty closed her eyes and tried to steady herself. “You want me to tell you that I love you _right now_?”

“No. No, I have no expectations of you. You’re clearly upset and I don’t want to spend the rest of my life wondering if you said it was because it’s true or because you feel like you had to,” Jughead said. “We can talk about it later. Come on, I’ll take you home.”

**.**

They stood awkwardly on her front porch, not knowing what to do or say next.

“I’ve got to go,” Betty finally told him as she fumbled with her keys. “Um, I just remembered I told Polly I’d babysit Bee. She has a date.”

Jughead nodded. “Do you want me to come with you?”

“No. No it’s okay, I just want to be alone,” Betty answered. “I mean, I won’t be alone because I’ll be with Beatrice. I—”

“Okay. I understand,” Jughead said, he reached out and squeezed her arm. He didn’t know what else to say. Not after their secret being revealed to the whole school and confessing that he loved her.

Betty pulled away from him, unlocked the door and went inside. Jughead waited for a second, a silly part of him hoped that she’d turn around and come back to see him. Maybe she’d ask him to go with her or say she really did love him. But it didn’t happen, so he left. Shooting off a text to the girls in the Blue & Gold sans Cheryl.

Because he knew that despite what she said, Betty didn’t really want to be left alone. She just didn’t want his company right then and there.

He would respect that.

But he wouldn’t let her face Cheryl’s cruelness without allies.

**TBC. . .**

**.**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, there was a little more here but I decided that was a good place to stop. My life has been INSANE as you know, I don’t know how I am functioning right now. But I am getting used to it. I hope you enjoyed this chapter. I’m not good with the witchier characters, so if I did not do Cheryl justice, I apologize! I hope you’ll drop a review!


	10. Chapte

**.**

**Chapter 10**

“So, this whole thing was a ploy to get my attention?” Archie asked munching on an onion ring, two weeks later.

“Yes,” Jughead answered. “Not that your ego needs to be inflated any more than it already is.”

“I am flattered. Betty’s a great girl and anybody would be lucky to have her but I never saw her that way and I’m never going to either. She’s been in my life long enough that if it were going to happen, it would have happened by now,” Archie said. “So, you can stop worrying. I’m not going to swoop in and steal her from you.”

Jughead’s mouth fell open. “What!? I have no idea what you’re talking about Archie!”

Archie smirked. “I may be a bit stupid but I’m not oblivious. I know you’re in love with Betty, Jug. I didn’t even need Ronnie to clue me in on it, I’ve always known. I would have been a terrible friend if I didn’t.”

“Yeah, well, you were a terrible friend sometimes.”

“I know. . .” Archie trailed off. “But I’m not being a terrible friend right now. How are you?”

“Well, Betty hasn’t talked to me since we picked the girls up at the train station and almost everyone at school is treating me like pretending to be somebody’s boyfriend is the worst thing you can do. Most of them have never cared about me at all. I don’t get invited to hang out at their house after school or birthday parties. But the worst part is how we can let somebody like Cheryl dictate how we feel about someone else.”

“That’s the worst part?” Archie asked. “What about the part where Betty didn’t say she loved you too?”

“I don’t care about that,” Jughead lied. “I just wish our classmates wouldn’t follow the leader so blindly. It might get them in trouble one day.”

“But it is about Betty a little bit, isn’t it?”

“At what part in any story does the weirdo best friend ever get the girl?” Jughead asked.

“Um, let’s see. In every romantic comedy _EVER_ made!” Archie replied.

“Heath Ledger is hardly a weirdo!” Jughead answered.

“So, your life isn’t like _10 Things I Hate About You_.” Archie shrugged. “I know Betty. She’s probably just embarrassed. Remember when Cheryl convinced everybody she had head lice and nobody went to her birthday party except for us?”

Jughead nodded. “She didn’t come to school for a week.”

“Just give her a little bit of time, she’ll come around. She always does,” Archie said. “In the meantime, let’s have milkshakes.”

**.**

“I honestly did try and stop her,” Melody said, laying Betty’s head in her lap and threading her fingers through her golden strands of hair. “She’s sneaky though. I’m sorry, baby.”

Midge shrugged and put on a CD and an 80s song started to play and she turned the volume down so it was just background music. “And once Cheryl sets her mind on something, she’s just going to do it no matter what! She doesn’t care who she hurts.”

“Jughead kicked her off the Blue & Gold,” Ethel added. “There’s been talk of suspension but Mama Blossom paid them off since there’s only a few weeks left in school before we graduate.”

“Don’t you have anything to say Betty?” Veronica asked. “You’re starting to worry me.”

“I wish I hadn’t ever tried to make Archie jealous. He must hate me.”

“I don’t hate you,” Archie answered, coming into her bedroom.

Betty sat up. “Archie, I’m so sorry!”

Archie shook his head. “You don’t have to apologize to me. You didn’t do anything wrong! I’m just sorry like you felt you couldn’t tell me how you felt and that you had to pretend to be somebody’s girlfriend in order to get my attention.”

Betty nodded. “Okay.”

“You still don’t like me right? Because I’d have to let you down gently if you did.”

 _“Archie!”_ Veronica groaned.

Betty shook her head. “No, I’m sorry Archie but I just don’t like you that way anymore.”

“Good!” Archie clapped his hands together and beamed. “I know somebody who’s crazy about you.”

“I cannot face Jughead. Not now. Maybe not _ever_!” Betty answered. “He must be so embarrassed right now! This happened to him just as much as it happened to me. And I didn’t say I loved him back.”

“Eh, you and Jug are last week’s news. Five other things have happened since Cheryl distributed that article. Nobody’s talking about it anymore!” Archie assured her.

“And nobody can blame you for not saying you love him too,” Melody added. “Especially given the circumstances that made him say it to you first.”

“You do love him, right?” Midge asked out of the blue.

“Clearly!” Melody said dryly.

“I was just checking!” Midge replied defensively.

“You know what you need to do. . .” Ethel said thoughtfully.

Veronica’s eyes lit up. “I think I know what you’re going to suggest, Ethel!”

“You should write something for the Blue & Gold about how much you love Jughead!”

“Yes!” Melody agreed. “It all started with an article, you need to let the whole school know you’re serious about him! We can make sure it’s an exclusive! I’ll get Doily to distract Jughead while we format the paper and get it printed. What do you say? Do you want to do it?”

“I don’t know what to write,” Betty said softly.

“You are one of the best writers at school. I’m sure you’re going to figure something out!” Archie answered, sliding her laptop towards her.

“We can’t force her to do it right now!” Veronica told him. “She’ll write it when she’s ready, Archie!”

“She has to do it soon though,” Midge objected. “Prom’s coming soon and then we’ll graduate. You don’t want him to keep wondering, Betty.”

Betty sighed. “I know. I know, you’re right.”

Melody stood up and cleared her throat. “Maybe we should get going and give Betty some space so she can find her creativity.”

“You don’t have to go!” Betty protested.

“We’ll be back later,” Veronica promised, threading her arm through Archie’s. “Good luck!”

When Betty was by herself, she pulled her computer towards her and opened it. She typed in her password and clicked on Microsoft Word, she stared at the cursor but nothing came to her. So, she cued up Netflix and scrolled through her favorite romcoms, hoping to find some inspiration in the scenes of a love story.

She found it in a strawberry milkshake courtesy of Polly and the ending of a Matthew McConaughey and Kate Hudson movie.

Motivated, she started to write her article.

She just hoped it wasn’t too late.

**.**

“Hold on!” Veronica said as they walked into school the next day. She pulled out a tube of lipstick from her purse and applied it to Betty’s mouth. “You can’t face today without my secret weapon! There you go, now you’re ready to conquer the world!”

“I don’t want to conquer the world!” Betty protested. “I don’t even want to stand out! I want to get through the school day and go home without being noticed at all!”

Veronica snorted. “You’ve been gone too long to do _that_ sweetie pie! You need to make the statement that you’re here and you don’t care what everyone is saying about you anymore. You’re above it. Yes, people will stare and they might talk a little bit again but you are above it!”

Betty nodded. She’d been through a lot worse, the scrutiny of Polly’s pregnancy when the school had found out they were related to the Blossoms. The pity and whispered conversations when her father had left them for a much younger woman who had interned at the newspaper one summer.

She lifted her head a fraction of an inch and squared her shoulders. She could get through this.

She’d done it before.

**.**

“You need to make sure a copy gets to Jughead as soon as possible!” Veronica instructed Archie.

“Isn’t it online though?” Archie asked. “The guy has his phone set up for Blue & Gold alerts. He has to have seen it by now.”

Veronica sighed. “Even if that is the case, which I _highly_ doubt it is, it’ll be better if he sees it in black and white. If he has something tangible. It’ll mean more.”

“What makes you think he hasn’t read it yet? Jughead has loved Betty forever! Maybe he saw her name on the article and couldn’t help himself!” Archie insisted.

Veronica all but shoved the paper in his hands. “Just go and make sure he’s read it, Archie! _Please_!”

Archie gave her a quick kiss. “Okay, okay! I’m leaving, I’m leaving! _Geez!_ ”

“I’m going to Boston!” Veronica called after him. “I’ve got a dress to pick up! I’ll see you when I get back!”

**.**

Jughead was sitting on the front porch when Archie got to his trailer, his feet propped up on the railing, there was a book open in his lap but he was staring off into the distance.

“Ahem,” Archie said, trying to get his attention.

“What is it Archie?”

“I assume you’ve already seen this but just in case you haven’t, I brought you some new reading material,” Archie answered.

Jughead sighed and finally looked at him. “It’s Betty’s article, isn’t it?”

Archie nodded. “I think you’re going to find it _very_ interesting,” he replied.

“How is she?” Jughead asked. “Was everybody nice to her at school today? How did she look?”

“Nobody gave her a hard time at school. She looked pretty like always,” Archie assured him, unfolding the new copy of the Blue & Gold, careful not to wrinkle it just in case Jughead wanted to keep it. He cleared his throat. _“I’ve lost the only guy I’ve ever loved. . .”_

“She stole that from _How To Lose A Guy In 10 Days_ ,” Jughead told him.

Archie ignored him and continued to read. _“My whole entire life, I was so certain that I had been in love with one particular person. I’d spent years waiting for him to realize he wanted to be with me too while he dated girl after girl and only treated me like a friend. It wasn’t until Jughead Jones and I came up with a plot to get Archie Andrews’s attention that I realized it had been Jughead all along—”_

“It doesn’t really say that!” Jughead protested.

“Do you think I’m articulate enough to make that up right on the spot?”

“You _do_ write songs, bro!” Jughead reminded him.

“Yeah, well, I didn’t write _this_!” Archie insisted. “It was all Betty! And she’s somewhere in Riverdale right now, hoping you’re going to read it and that you still love her! She’s just too afraid to tell you herself because she’s afraid you’re going to reject her.”

Jughead stood up and carefully extracted the paper from his best friend’s hands. He scanned it, his heart pounding in his chest. Archie wasn’t making anything up. It was all there in print for everyone at school to see.

It had taken a while for him to get the response he wanted but he’d finally gotten it. He wanted to hear it from her mouth just to make sure it was real. But he didn’t know where he could find her or if she even wanted to see him face-to-face. He _had_ skipped school to avoid her because he was afraid he would do something stupid like throw himself at her feet and beg her to love him back or maybe climb up to the roof and declare his feelings for all of Riverdale to hear.

“You do still love her, right?” Archie asked, breaking into his thoughts.

“Yes,” Jughead answered. “I don’t think that’s something that really goes away overnight.”

Jellybean opened the window because she’d been eavesdropping and pressed her face against the screen. “Then you have to go and tell her, Jughead! You have to go and tell her _right now_!”

Archie nodded in agreement.

Jughead looked at Archie. “Wh-Where is she?”

 

**TBC. . .**

**.**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> We’re in the final stretches of this story. Can I say a bit prematurely how happy I am that you guys took this journey with me? More to come soon, leave a review if you’d like! I’m looking forward to hearing your thoughts.
> 
> P.S  
> THAT FINALE THOUGH! I FEEL SO DOPEY!


	11. Coda

**.**

**Coda**

He took the stairs two steps at a time and banged on the door, his heart beating out of his chest. He had dreamed of Betty loving him back his whole entire life. He had written countless novels where the sardonic loner wound up with the golden girl. He never expected it would become a reality, but he was standing on Polly’s porch with black & white proof.

She loved him.

He didn’t know what he was going to do.

For once in his life, he was at a loss for words.

She opened the door, her weary eyes lighting up when she saw him. Beatrice was perched on her hip and trying to stuff Goldfish in her aunt’s mouth.

Betty shook her head and removed her Beatrice’s hand from her lips. “Not now, Bee. Hi Jughead! How are you—?”

He held up the school newspaper. “Is it true?” he asked a little more loudly than he intended to.

“Is _what_ true?” Betty asked.

 _“This!”_ He waved the newspaper, his voice cracking. “Is it true? Do you. Do you. . . do you love me?”

Betty lifted her chin and met his eyes. “You know I only report the facts, Jughead.”

“Say it again. Say it again, out loud this time. _Please_.” he whispered. “I-I read it but I-I need to hear it, Betty. I need to hear you say it!”

Betty put her empty hand on his face, she stroked his cheekbone with her thumb, her gaze never leaving his for a second and that’s how he knew she was really telling the truth.

“Jughead Jones, I love you. I think I’ve always loved you. I’m sorry I didn’t realize it sooner. I am sorry that I made you wait for me this long. I was so embarrassed and I didn’t want you to think I was just saying it because I _had_ to or because you said it first—”He cut her off with his mouth, kissing her despite the squirming toddler between them.

“I love you too,” he said.

Betty giggled. “I know.”

“We’ve missed so much time,” Jughead answered. “I need to make up for it. I think I’ll say it a few times a day, every day for the rest of our lives.”

Betty giggled. “Aren’t you a romantic? How did I get so lucky?”

Jughead shook his head. “I’ve asked myself that every day since we met.”

Betty blushed. “Stop it.”

“It’s true,” Jughead answered. “I’ve loved you since then. I know I said it already but it’s true and I never thought you’d love me back.”

Betty smiled at him. “I did Juggie, I did.”

He kissed her again, his heart was so full, he didn’t know how to handle it. He didn’t think he would ever know how.

But he was willing to try. He had finally gotten a happily ever after even though it had been through unconventional means.

He wasn’t throwing it away for anything.

**The End**

**.**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you to everyone who stayed with me through this story and to all the people who joined us towards the end. I am thankful for all the kudos (Ao3) and for the reviews and favorites. You guys made this story worth writing. I hope you will join me on June 3rd for my next multi-chapter story. Until then, I hope you’ll review this story one last time.

**Author's Note:**

> Okay, so this is not EXACTLY “10 Things I Hate About You” so much as it’s a mashup of all my favorite romcoms and 90s teen movies. I hope you guys don’t mind too much! It will be heavily “10 Things” influenced. I just rewatched it this weekend and there are too many good moments to leave out. I hope you enjoyed this! Chapter 2 will be up this weekend. In the meantime, I hope you’ll tell me what you thought.


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